12.06.17

"A hue of angst and despair might make work more interesting - jury's out on that - but it doesn't make it more valuable. In fact, work created during what the researchers call 'period of bereavement' was up to 35 percent less valuable than a given artist' other pieces. On top of that, the morose works were less likely to be included in the collections of major museums."

"Is it possible that the lack of nonwhite and female lead characters in Hollywood films is driven, in part, by economic concerns from movie studios? Our analysis of more than 800 films sampled between 2005 and 2012 suggests the answer is 'yes'."

"A study published in March demonstrated that natural sounds have the ability to relieve psychological and physiological stress. Using fMRI and heart-rate monitoring, researchers Gould van Praag, et al, of the University of Sussex found that listening to natural sounds improved parasympathetic activity, whereas listening to artificial sounds prompted sympathetic arousal."

"I don't usually write about sex. I'm kind of a person who wouldn't. By the time I'm on page 50 or 60, I sense, 'Okay, this has been a wonderful fantasy, but stop.' Something told me not to stop. ... I said, 'No, I want them to have fun. I want them to be sexual.'"

Financial journalist Felix Salmon explains why the up-and-down prices for Hirst's art at auctions aren't a good indicator of how valuable his work really is, and argues that Hirst has basically become a maker and seller of luxury goods - which is as it should be.

"In January, when the site moves over to a blockchain, Everipedia will convert IQ scores to a token-based currency, giving all existing editors an allotment proportionate to their IQ—and giving them a real, financial stake in Everipedia. From then on, creating and curating articles will allow users to earn tokens, which act as virtual shares of the platform. To prevent bad actors from trying to cash in with ill-founded or deliberately false articles and edits, Everipedia will force users to put up a token of their own in order to submit. If their work is accepted, they get their token back, plus a little bit for their contribution; if not, they lose their token. The assumption is that other users, motivated by the desire to maintain the site’s value, will actively seek to prevent such efforts."

“When people are presented with a perfect image of something — whether a product or a perfect person — it doesn’t feel authentic. And the Museum of Failure, with its artifacts, feels — and is — completely genuine and authentic. And that’s something that’s not so common today.”

"Revenue from ticket sales was down, while production costs continued to rise. Subscription and tickets were down slightly by 1.6% from $8.6M in 2016 to 8.5M in 2017. Production costs increased by 6.4 % from $18.3 M to $19.6 M. The steep cost of touring to Israel set the TSO back over $1.9 M this year, which we can only speculate must have been a point of contention in the board, which last year saw half of its members abruptly resign."